Lenora Degen, a yoga instructor, told her after-school class at Buena Vista Elementary School in Colorado Springs about a yoga bill hearing in Denver, where committee chairman Owen Hill did the “crow” position afterward. The students then did their own crow poses. (Lenora Degen, Sen. Laura Woods’ Facebook page)

A bill to exempt yoga-teacher training studios from state certification breezed through Senate Appropriations today and now is on its way to the full Senate on the consent calendar, meaning no opposition is expected.

I shared the story with my after-school class at Buena Vista Elementary School in Colorado Springs on Friday afternoon. We discussed the meaning of “Democracy” and how we have the right to let our elected officials know our points of view. Then I showed them the photo from the Denver Post” (of Sen Owen Hill doing the crow in the Senate Committee room).

They were impressed and excited to try the pose themselves. Here they are, posing for you all. It’s their way of saying THANK YOU!

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken fired up Colorado Democrats at their annual fundraising dinner Saturday, rapping Republicans on climate change and the economy while dispensing the kind of humor that made him a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

He praised U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is up for reelection in 2016, lamented the defeat last year of U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and quoted the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Franken opened by talking about a previous visit to Denver.

“I met John Hickenlooper. He had just become mayor. He had this brewpub and they had all these craft beers. I thought, ‘What’s the deal with the craft beers? How is that a thing?’ Well, wouldn’t you know it, 11 years later craft beers are are huge and not only that, I’m a U.S. senator,” Franken said.

“I don’t know what happened to Hickenlooper.”

Governor Hickenlooper and the rest of the crowd at the Jefferson Jackson dinner howled.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks about Iran during a joint meeting of the United States Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol today. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — No one from Colorado’s congressional delegation plans to boycott Tuesday’s speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – though that doesn’t mean everyone is happy about or plans to attend.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, won’t be there. But unlike dozens of her Democratic colleagues who are skipping the speech to make a statement, DeGette said she had a prior commitment that deals with her top project this year — a bipartisan initiative aimed at speeding up the time to develop medical drugs in the U.S.

Asked whether she would have attended if she didn’t have plans, DeGette wouldn’t say.

“I don’t do thought exercises,” she said.

Democrats are upset with Netanyahu because he accepted an invitation to address Congress without informing a White House — a move seen as a major breach of protocol, especially since Netanyahu has an election soon.

Gov. John Hickenlooper delivers his fifth State of the State address in January to Colorado lawmakers. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

Gov. John Hickenlooper spent two days to start the week at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meetings in Washington.

The high-profile conference is rare air for the Democrat who says he is not entertaining thoughts of higher office and is not actively engaged in the geopolitical sphere. AIPAC heard a major speech from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

A Hickenlooper spokeswoman said the governor attended at the invitation of AIPAC, in part for his role as chairman of the National Governors Association. The organization also touted his reputation as a bipartisan deal broker.

Hickenlooper spent Sunday in Washington — his second trip to the nation’s capital in recent weeks — and spoke to an energy panel Monday that discussed regulatory frameworks in Colorado, his office said.

His administration recently announced it would depart on a trade mission to Israel next year. Hickenlooper visited Israel in April 2013 on a personal trip.

“When I look at Joe, I think that’s what I wish I was like when I was younger,” Garcia said, noting Neguse was student body president while at the University of Colorado, was elected to the CU board of regents when he was in law school, becoming the youngest second youngest* regent ever and was nominated by the Democratic Party for secretary of state when he was 29.

Congressman Ed Perlmutter won Democrat of the Year Saturday night in a ceremony that had party members loving him even more.

First of all, the Jefferson County Democrat insisted the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner end by 9:30 p.m. In some years, the keynote speech hadn’t even happened by then. And then Perlmutter kept his own speech short to ensure the Colorado Democratic Party could end on time.

Throughout the night, there were loud cheers from Democrats assembled at the downtown Denver Marriott whenever Perlmutter’s name was mentioned.

“I want Democrats to win. When we win we change and shape the future,” Permutter said when he accepted the honor. “And because we believe in freedom and in opportunity and in justice for all, especially for the hard-working people in the middle, we make that future a lot better than the other guys.”

Rick Palacio, who was elected Saturday to a third term as Colorado Democratic Party chairman, and House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst at the party’s annual Jefferson Jackson dinner later that day. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Rick Palacio beat back a challenge from campaign consultant Dave Sabados to win a third term as Colorado Democratic Party chairman in a race that attracted national attention.

Palacio won after one round of balloting during the Democrats’ reorganizational meeting Saturday at the downtown Denver Marriott. With 468 Democrats voting, Palacio received 248 votes to Sabados’ 182 votes. Former congressional candidate Vic Meyers received 38 votes. In other words, Palacio received 53 percent of the vote, Sabados 39 percent and Meyers 8 percent.

There was plenty of talk afterward about uniting to win in 2016.

“I look forward to leading a united and forward looking Democratic Party and vow to work with Democrats in all corners of our state as we reelect Sen. Michael Bennet and regain our majority in the state Senate,” Palacio said.

“I’m proud of moving the conversation forward and giving a voice to many activists who have felt ignored,” Sabados said. “These conversations are healthy for the party and have helped us take a serious look at what needs to be done for 2015 and 2016. I believe our party will have a renewed focus on building county party infrastructure and working with local candidates.”

Among the candidates running for Denver City Council who attended the Colorado Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson dinner Saturday night are, left to right, Travis Leiker, running for Jeanne Robb’s seat in District 10; and former state Rep. Anne McGihon and Luchia Brown, running in District 7 for Chris Nevitt’s seat. (Photo by Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Municipal elections are nonpartisan but the number of Denver City Council candidates who attended the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner Saturday night shows the strength of the party in the Mile City City.

Even Denver Mayor Michael Hancock got into it, proclaiming “I’m proud to be a Democrat” before he introduced the two volunteers of the year, Mick Ireland of Pitkin County and Rochelle Galindo of Weld County.

“We don’t wait for the 11th hour only to find a mediocre solution. And we don’t threaten to shut down the government,” the mayor said to cheers. “We find compromise. And we enact solutions.”

WASHINGTON — Just hours before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was set to partially shut down, the U.S. House defeated a measure that would have kept the agency funded for the next three weeks.

Immediately after the vote, it was unclear whether Congress could move fast enough Friday night to avert a shutdown. Colorado lawmakers have been debating for weeks about how to overcome the DHS impasse.

In the late-afternoon vote, a majority of House Democrats, including all three from Colorado, helped sink the temporary spending bill by a tally of 203-224. Democratic U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis all said they opposed the bill because it only would extend what DeGette described as an “invented political logjam.”

“For weeks, Washington has been consumed by a crisis of its own making,” she said in a statement after the vote. “Instead of doing the responsible thing, House Republican leaders refuse to consider a clean funding plan for the Department of Homeland Security and continue with this invented political logjam.”

More than 170 Democrats joined with 52 Republicans to beat the bill. Only 12 Democrats voted in favor of the measure. The one House Republican from Colorado who voted against the bill was U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, who said he did it to show his opposition to President Barack Obama’s policies on immigration.

“I cannot support funding, even for a short period of time, the President’s unlawful executive action that violates the Constitution,” Lamborn said in a statement.

One possible motivation for Democrats is political gain. A widely-cited poll found that the American public would blame congressional Republicans more than Obama for a DHS shutdown. But that CNN/ORC poll was taken before Friday’s vote.

Getting to this point has been a slow-motion train wreck.

Last year, Republican leaders in Congress were searching for a way to undo Obama’s executive action on immigration. What they came up with was legislation that only funded DHS through the end of February – a move aimed at giving them more time to develop a robust response.

But they have been stymied in recent weeks by Senate Democrats, who have insisted on a “clean” DHS funding bill that didn’t wade into the immigration debate.

The result has been a struggle by the Republican-controlled Congress to come up with a legislative solution that would fund DHS while addressing the concerns of party members who want to make a stand against Obama’s executive action.

That tension came to a head Friday night and led to the bill’s defeat.

Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, R-Colorado Springs, at right, invited his pastor, the Rev. Mel Waters of New Life Church, to lead the House prayer Friday morning. (Photo by Joey Bunch/The Denver Post_

Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt. R-Colorado Springs, made his presence known in the House chamber two mornings in a row this week, and Friday his supporting cast included the U.S. Supreme Court, his pastor and Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Mel Waters, an associate pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, led the morning prayer in the House. He invoked the name of Jesus Christ, which traditionally had been frowned upon, since some members of the chamber, legislative staff and visitors would be asked to engage in a Christian prayer irrespective of their individual faiths. Most of the prayers cite God without a specific faith or encourage spiritual values.

Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog has named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.